Page 57 of Marked By His Touch

Two shots echo through the night, shattering the silence, deafening blasts that make me jump. Alexander falls to his knees, his body crumpling under the weight of the bullets. My heart sinks to the depths of my stomach. I close my eyes, a sob escaping my lips.

“No, no, no—” I cry out, the words are choked, crushed.

The men push his body into the water, their movements swift and ruthless. The dark water ripples with the force of the impact, swallowing him whole. They didn’t care about his life, and they don’t care about his death.

It can’t be. I close my eyes. Maybe it’s just a nightmare. Perhaps I can wake up, and it will all be okay. I open my eyes, but the reality is still there. The dark water. Alexander’s lifeless body.It’s not a dream. It’s real.

“Why? Why did you k-kill him?” I ask, my voice cracking, the words tearing from me like a piece of my soul. I point towards the dark water, where Alexander’s body now floats. He’s gone. My heart is breaking. My soul is bursting. I feel like there’s no reason to breathe anymore. The oxygen in my lungs is useless without him. He was all I had left, and now he’s gone.So is my will to go on.

Nikolai turns to me. He doesn’t answer my question. His gaze is as cold as the water where Alexander’s body lies. His soul is gone.

“Get her on board,” he commands. He waves his hand, a gesture that sends his men into motion. “Seychas, now.”

The icy harbor water ripples beneath the dock, calling me like a tempting escape. What if I jump? I can still see Alexander’s body floating in the darkness. A part of me wants to join him, to be swallowed by the same darkness that claimed him. It’s a sense of peace, a final rebellion against Nikolai and his tyranny.

But a deeper instinct, a primal urge to survive, pulls me back. I take a step, my gaze fixed ahead, as I enter the cabin's open double doors.

The deck beneath my feet is cold, smooth marble. The ship’s walls are lined with ornate carvings, the floors gleam with polished wood, and it smells like exotic wood. But beneath the surface, coldness and emptiness exist.

My eyes scan the vessel. It’s like a floating city filled with heavy oak doors and locked metal grates. I can feel Nikolai’s presence beside me, his gaze heavy and possessive. But I keep my eyes fixed on the horizon.

“You like? New decor—not like many years ago. All new.”

He’s proud that he refurbished the ship my mom and dad escaped on twenty-five years ago. He doesn’t even register that Alexander is gone. He doesn’t care that his men killed them.

“You’re sick.”

The ship vibrates a low rumble that runs through my bones. My heart stumbles in my chest.

The ship is starting to move.There’s no turning back.

“We leave—” Nikolai grunts. He stands beside me, his hand resting lightly on my shoulder.

My hands are clammy. I’m being taken away. How can I get out of this floating nightmare? But the vastness of the ship, the presence of Nikolai and his men, the darkness surrounding me—all of it—seems impossible.

I can hear the groan of the anchor as it rises, the ship’s engines thrumming, a powerful force carrying me away fromeverything I know. The ship moves, a slow, inexorable glide into the darkness, and I feel like I’m falling into a black hole.

Chapter 16

The Journey Across the Sea

I’m trappedin a room on the ship, a cage designed for torture, a place where Nikolai can wield his power unchecked. I guess part of redecorating the ship included this dungeon of pleasure and pain. I don’t know why I am surprised.

It doesn't matter anymore. Nothing does. With Alexander gone, life has lost its meaning. I've grown numb, resigned to this new, hollow existence.

The harsh lights illuminate the smooth, cold walls. The scent of antiseptic and a faint, metallic tang, perhaps from the blood seeping from my wrists, fills the air. This is my prison. My final act before we reach Russia.

My body aches, my wrists burning where the rough ropes bit into my skin, my legs stiff from being bound for what felt like an eternity. I close my eyes, willing myself to accept this fate, this twisted, perverse reality.I have no escape. He has won. He’s taken everything from me.

I’ve been in the same position for hours, and my body screams for relief. For water, for food, for movement. My soul is broken. I should have jumped in the water with Alexander. My soul is shattered. My insides are screaming with grief and a hard, deep anger towards Nikolai.

I want to put a gun to his face and pull the trigger. He killed Alexander. He was the only person who loved me, and I loved him.I still love him.

The door creaks open, and I brace myself for the inevitable. For another sexual assault, for pain, for whatever he will bring to me today. I’m already broken.

I don’t even bother turning around. I don’t want to see his face. A scent of leather and sandalwood, mixed with a faint, musky cologne, cuts through the air of the cabin, a smell I associate with—

It can’t be.

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